WoW recently had issues with the player-fuelled marketplace in the run-up to the MMO's The War Within expansion. As such, Blizzard took it offline and got it back on its feet. Alas, the influx of new and returning players coming to try the new expansion knocked it right off its feet once more.

After a few days of performance issues and players setting up signs telling others to turn away, things are on the mend again. Senior game producer Tom Ellis says performance should be rosier now thanks to some "holiday weekend engineering done by some heroes." Unfortunately, addons are still struggling, so we'll have to live with that temporarily while "actual fixes" are being worked on.

Players are now posting "Dead End" signs outside of the Auction House from r/wow

"So what's going on with the Auction House is an interesting tech problem, a well-meaning and simple design change caused a DB table that used to hold 20-60k rows to now contain tens of millions," Ellis shares. "Not a problem by itself but we've got some code changes to make to support this new world we live in. We're going to throw more hardware at the problem with maintenance while people far more clever than me work on actual solutions."

From what I can see, the Auction House issues depended on when and where you played. At best, you had some slow loads; at worst, the marketplace didn't respond at all. It's no wonder players have set up signs to tell others to just not bother. We can only hope things are recovered to the point that the signs can come down – and they look like they just might be.

It's not just the Worldsoul Saga - World of Warcraft lead Chris Metzen says Blizzard is "mapping out" the MMO upwards of patch 17.0.

In the moment, Galadriel comments that Sauron (or Halbrand, as she knew him) "used me, and under his hand I was played like a harp to a melody not of my choosing." As she speaks, Sauron's theme can be heard in the background, played on a harp. "Good ears! I'm thrilled somebody noticed," McCreary wrote on X. 

This isn't the only way that Sauron and Galadriel are connected in the new season. "They're both magical, powerful beings, and I think there is something lonely to existing in that kind of sphere that they both are in," Galadriel actor Morfydd Clark told us recently. "But yeah, there is some sort of cosmic connection, which I've heard Charlie [Vickers, Sauron actor] mention a few times. I was like 'Nice, I like that'. Yeah, and it will go on for 1000s and 1000s of years."

The new season sees the aftermath of Galadriel falling for Sauron's trickery back in season 1, and, as we've seen in the first three episodes, she still wants to use those pesky rings of power despite knowing whose idea it was to forge them…

The show is releasing weekly on Prime Video now, and you can check out our Rings of Power season 2 release schedule to keep up to date, or see our Rings of Power season 2 review for our spoiler-free verdict on all eight episodes. 

Somehow, yesterday, September 1, marked the ninth anniversary of Metal Gear Solid 5's launch. To mark the occasion, game director Kojima has taken to Twitter to remind everyone that he did far more than just direct the actual game itself - he also did "promotional videos," "trailers, key visuals, package," and "concepts, layouts, checking."

"It includes everything. That's my style," Kojima adds to conclude the tweet above. Kojima has long been relatively famed for personally editing the trailers for his games, so I doubt there'll be anyone out there who didn't already know that bit of information. There might be fewer people who know he also oversees aspects like "concepts" and "checking."

Not content with just one tweet, Kojima adds the follow-up tweet just below, revealing that "it's tough to do all these while making the game at the same time," but he believes this is "part of my works." Finally, as if doing all that wasn't enough, Kojima also oversees all of the merchandising surrounding his games, which definitely isn't a common role for a game director.

So there you have it - Kojima did "everything," or close enough to that, for the last mainline Metal Gear Solid title. Perhaps, when Metal Gear Solid 5's tenth anniversary roles around in 2025, the game director will finally spill the beans on some juicy cut content surrounding The Phantom Pain - Lord knows the Metal Gear community has waited long enough.

Take a look at our Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater preview for our hands-on experience with Konami's remake. 

Speaking at a PAX West panel, Spencer reveals that Xbox considered signing Bungie's beloved sci-fi shooter but ultimately chose not to: "Getting the pitch for Destiny on 'do we want to sign this' - we ended up not signing Destiny. It obviously went with Activision, and to see what it grew into, like from a business kind of Xbox standpoint, I can look at it … and it's just a really interesting journey in terms of what [Bungie] built."

After briefly comparing Destiny to Halo, fellow Bungie banger and arguably one of the most successful Xbox exclusives ever, Spencer explains that the online shooter initially "didn't really click" with him as he's not a "big PvP player." His mind gradually changed as the game's second expansion dropped, though: "It turns out that's not what it was at all like, and when [House of] Wolves came out, it definitely landed me."

Despite his eventual love for Destiny, Spencer doesn't dwell on the decision to not sign the game - after all, it's one of many: "I've passed on some of the worst, like made some of the worst game choice decisions." Another such game that got away was Guitar Hero, a title that Spencer says he felt at first wasn't "going to work" for Xbox. The concept was too surreal, from the toy-esque instrument plugged directly into a console to the gameplay itself.

"[Alex Rigopulos] pitches a game where they're actually going to make plastic guitars and they're going to plug into consoles and then they're going to sell tracks … "I'm like, 'really, do we really think that's going to work?'" The strange formula did indeed end up working. "A few people played Guitar Hero," Spencer jokes. "I hear that was turned into a pretty good game." He still doesn't regret not signing, though.

"I'm not a regrets type person. Maybe that's a fault of mine, but I passed on so many games." Instead of looking back with frustration, Spencer tries to "look forward and be positive about the things we are doing." With smash-hit games like Destiny, that means celebrating studios such as Bungie and their monumental work: "I just like to celebrate what the team has done. I mean, it's incredible."

Phil Spencer never said Indiana Jones wouldn't come to PS5, he said it wouldn't be 1 of the first 4 Xbox exclusives to do so, like Grounded and Hi-Fi Rush

As you can see here in a picture shared by Gearbox president Randy Pitchford, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the card in question just had an interesting pattern on it – there's a lone D20 in the center, surrounded by an array of triangles, as well as the numbers '29' and '08.'  In case there was any doubt, though, fans were assured otherwise, with the teaser that "we hid a secret code in them…" 

It took no encouragement at all for the community to dive into action to figure out what was going on, especially when there was initially some speculation that the card could be hiding Borderlands 4's release date – you can understand why given the numbers on there. That wasn't actually the case, although the reality is still exciting, as it turns out that it was actually housing a secret SHiFT code – the series' "most valuable" one ever, to be exact, which is now available for everyone to use thanks to the geniuses who managed to work it out. 

It was Twitter user @40_BaySt who came forward with the discovery that made everything slot into place – it turns out that the card was housing a hidden binary code, which had to be converted twice before actually becoming anything meaningful.

"I think my wife figured it out," @40_BaySt says. "It's a binary code. Up triangles are 1. Down triangles are 0. There are 29 sequences and each sequence is eight digits. Then you convert the binary to decimal and then to ASCII. Upon doing that you get this... SXFBT-39953-J33TT-3T333-KSHW6."

Pitchford was quick to confirm this was the right approach, taking to Twitter to write: "Gratz, everyone! Thanks @40_BaySt's wife, you are all entitled to 50 Golden/Skeleton Keys and 10 Diamond Keys in the Borderlands games via SHiFT code unlocked at PAX West at the Gearbox Main Theater Show." That's a lot of loot to unlock, especially considering the code isn't limited to just one of the games. 

With Borderlands 4 now officially announced, here's hoping we might get a few more puzzles like this to bide the time before its release next year.

Be sure to check out our list of the best Borderlands games you can play today. 

"On this day, #Peacemaker aka Christopher Smith made his first comic appearance in Fightin’ 5 #40, in 1966, created by Joe Gill and Pat Boyette," Gunn wrote on Twitter. "It’s the role @JohnCena was born to play, and I can’t wait to show you all what we’re cooking up now for @Peacemaker Season 2!"

Accompanying the tweet, which you can see below, is a side-by-side shot of Peacemaker's debut in the pages of DC and a shot of – presumably – John Cena in the trademark helmet.

Peacemaker season 2 is currently filming, with James Gunn set to direct all eight episodes. The upcoming series sees the return of Cena's gun-toting anti-hero alongside Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Jennifer Holland, and Steve Agee. Frank Grillo is set to portray Rick Flag Sr., the father of Rick Flag – who Peacemaker killed in 2021's The Suicide Squad.

The co-CEO of DC Studios has also been busy with helming the new live-action Superman, which wrapped filming in July.

Superman, set for release on July 11, 2025, stars David Corenswet as the new Man of Steel. The first live-action DCU movie currently shares the July 2025 release window with Fantastic Four and Jurassic World Rebirth – meaning it's going to be a bumper month for blockbusters.

For more on the rebooted DCU, check out our guide to DCU Chapter One. Then dive into our guide on how to watch the DC movies in order.

Developer Treyarch Studios announced the feature last week in a simple tweet: "We heard you and can confirm that the Body Shield feature in Multiplayer will enable voice chat between the attacker and victim." The studio then cheekily warned players to "Be nice," but this is Call of Duty we're talking about here - being a little 'not nice' is the name of the game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's beta opened up early for pre-orderers and Game Pass subscribers ahead of its full September 6 kick-off date for everyone, giving some players a glimpse of what multiplayer matches will be like now that strangers can whisper sweet nothings in your ear. 

The clips embedded below show some of the wild trolling that'll probably be rife in the game proper, making two humans shields kiss included - and I'm sure people will magically become much nicer for when Blops 6 comes out on October 26, right? Right?

There's now a non-zero chance that carpet salesmen might try to get into business with you in-game, all while holding your in-game life headlocked between their arms. Of course, human shield proximity chat also opens the door to all kinds of, well, less funny and way more toxic speech making its way into your headphones, but hopefully Activision's moderation systems are up to the task this time.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 makes a huge change to weapon camos and “takes inspiration” from previous games with no more gun level requirements. 

Charles Martinet, who voiced Mario between 1992 and 2023, recently appeared at Nintendo Live in Sydney, where he took part in an audience Q&A session. In the video replay below, right around the 49-minute mark, Martinet is asked for his personal favorite Mario-led games, and he starts out by revealing that he likes the "sandbox games."

"You can run around like 'woo!'" Martinet adds, with the final word of that comment obviously being done in-character as Mario. The Mario actor namedrops Super Mario Odyssey as one particular "sandbox" game that he thinks is "fabulous," which is chiefly because of its 3D world and music - at which point he brilliantly mimics Odyssey's score.

"And to start, of course, with Mario Teaches Typing, because that solidified in my heart what I was going to do with that loving character," Martinet continues, referencing the oft-forgotten 1991 game. "But then 64, Sunshine, Galaxy was unbelievable. And Luigi's Mansion just touches my little heart," Martinet concludes of his game selections.

Martinet is receiving a lot of love on social media for his personal favorite Mario games, like Super Mario Galaxy. "This is truly a common Charles Martinet W," reads one tweet reacting to the actor's picks, while another adds, "He’s so real for bringing up Luigi's Mansion." In actual fact, it's arguably Luigi's Mansion that's being praised as Martinet's best selection.

After 39 years, Nintendo's legendary composer put his voice in Super Mario Bros Wonder when his idea for a "live-action" Mario with "human proportions" was rejected.

Speaking to The Big Issue, the actor who played the beloved wizard in both the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, gave the update. "Enthusiasm for The Lord of the Rings shows no sign of abating," he said when asked about it. "I can’t tell you any more than that. I’ve just been told there are going to be more films and Gandalf will be involved and they hope that I’ll be playing him."

Earlier this year it was confirmed that Serkis would be starring and directing two more Lord of the Rings films focussed around Gollum. Currently, the first has a working release date of 2026, but McKellen adds that they haven’t got a script for it just yet. 

"When? I don’t know. What the script is? It’s not written yet. So, they better be quick," he added. McKellen is recently recovering from a fall on stage during a performance in London’s West End, but his next movie The Critic is out this month.

The new live-action Lord of the Rings films will see Peter Jackson and his partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens return as producers too. However, story details are pretty much non-existent at this point, and no other characters have been announced yet.

"It is so early; it would be unfair to commit to anything at this point. But I will say that it will be a deep dive where we investigate Gollum’s character," Serkis told a panel at ACE Superhero Comic Con 2024 (via Popverse) earlier this year. "There may be characters that we recognize that might be coming back. I’m not going to say who."

The franchise is doing well at the moment though, with an animated movie called The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim due out later this year. The film recently released its trailer, which referenced Jackson’s live-action movies. 

Elsewhere, prequel series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is airing its second season on Prime Video. For more information, check out our guides on how to watch the Lord of the Rings movies in order and our breakdown of the Lord of the Rings timeline.

When asked about whether there was anything he would've done differently, in a Q&A interview with Gamology, Roger Clark explained that the one thing that still weighs heavy on his mind is his character's mispronunciation of Colm O'Driscoll - the human-shaped rat that rivals with Arthur throughout the entire epic - or his first name, specifically.

"The only thing I regret is saying Colm O' Driscoll incorrectly," he said in the video embedded below. "Rockstar made me say it wrong, I told them it was wrong, they didn't care. It's pronounced 'Colom', it's not Colm."

In Rockstar Games' defense, the game itself acknowledges that Arthur isn't pronouncing the Irish name correctly. The clip that follows the actor's comments shows two other characters bickering over the pronunciation, with Sean telling off Kieran for also saying "Colm" - though, no character really challenges Arthur himself on his shoddy pronunciation, so who knows what the creative thinking behind the decision was?

Roger Clark parted with a bunch of interesting tidbits recently, revealing that he often has to tell fans that they didn't get the 'good' ending because none of the game's endings are the 'good' one. For a character that needs to deal with heartbreak, shipwrecks, the accidental loss of countless beloved horses, and the general discomfort of living in a time without toothpaste, Clark also revealed that the hardest part of playing Arthur was, surprisingly, the crouch--running: "3 days later my thighs were absolutely killing."

 GTA and Red Dead Redemption movies never happened because “games made poor-quality movies,” Rockstar Games’ co-founder said, but “it’s a different time now.”